Enslaved (7 page)

"Vince was saying that if he sold you to the
vampiress
, that she'd have to keep her word about not telling the Guardians that he had exceeded the number of leeches in his territory." Maria explained and it all fell in place before Tori.

Vince was just using her, seducing her so she felt comfortable with him, so she wouldn't suspect anything and when it was time he'd just ship her off to die a slow and painful death. It sounded like something Vince would do....the only thing that bothered her the most was that she had thought that she was changing her long-time companion and possibly lover....

Tori got the overwhelming feeling that life for her was over.

"Okay, Tori, I need to get back to work before Master Vince thinks that I've told you. If you need to talk to anyone, I'm here for you." Maria murmured, her green eyes glittering in the sunset that poured through the wide windows of the elaborate room. A flash of some emotion crossed Maria's
face,
it was gone far too fast for Tori to see, as Maria left the lounge.

Tori nearly ran back to her room, holding in the sobs that racked her body once she was alone in the increasing blackness that was her room...that was now her life.

Chapter 13

"I'm proud of you, Maria. You did good, maybe you WILL be useful in the next life." Jon whispered in her ear as he wordlessly began undressing her.

Maria kept quiet about the 'maybe you'll be useful' part of his sentence, the only thing she liked was his praise and his hands as he slid off her corset top and connected his lips to hers.

Vince got worried when he woke up to find no sign of his precious
Viktoria
in the room, where was she? It was after dusk, nearly ten-thirty. She never lied to him...she would've been here by now if she was okay.

Panic began to pulsate throughout every fiber of his being as he rushed out of his room and into the barren hallway, void of life or death...Vince's feet carried him to
Viktoria's
room that was down the hall and around the bend in the corridor. He knocked on the door once
there,
waiting for a response, any kind of answer...he'd take anything at this point.

The door eased open and
Viktoria's
beautiful mane of moonlight-white hair
appeared,
her blue eyes bloodshot, nose red and puffy as if she had been crying...

"
Viktoria
, what's wrong, darling?" He asked tenderly, his immediate reaction was to take her into his arms, tell her everything would be alright, that he was here now. But when he reached for her she moved back into the gloom of her darkened chambers, avoiding his touch as if he were the plague.

"Go away, please, Vince." She nearly whimpered, reminding him of the past when he had caused her pain intentionally and made her plea and scream for him to stop it.

"
Viktoria
, I demand to know what has upset you.
NOW!"
He commanded, striding defiantly into her room and closing the door, locking her in with him while his crimson eyes burned with intensity, worry, and frustration.

"You know, you bastard!" She exploded, making Vince take a step back at her vulgar language, at the hatred in her usually soft and sweet voice. "Just let me have some peace before you send me off to die!"

"
Vik
-
Viktoria
, what do you mean?" He stammered, his mind reeling with utter confusion at her words.

"Don't lie to me, Vincent. I know that you want to sell my blood, sell me to some vampire so they'll keep your secret."
Viktoria
growled,
a thin ring of blood red appearing around her pupil as the vampire blood in her strengthened with animal-like anger. "Get. Out.
Of.
My.
Room."

Sucking up the grief her mistrust had struck in his heart, Vince snapped back with the same amount of hate. "No,
Viktoria
. We both know that's not true, why would I SELL you to some bitch? To some vampire that wants my property? If they threatened my territory I would've taken care of him personally, not sold off my most valuable possession."

Viktoria
was silent for a moment as she glared him down from the other side of the dark room, her body tense with the anticipation of a fight, the vampire blood was
amping
up now, Vince could tell by the cat-like posture, the way her eyes were hooded yet highly alert, how her nostrils flared and chest heaved.

"Why did I ever trust you? I CAN'T trust you, Vince. You left me after you PROMISED you wouldn't when we were little, you kidnapped me and brought me to this hell, and you've tortured me, set me up and watch as I slowly meet my demise!"
Viktoria
snarled.

Vince took a step closer to her, glowering at her. "I promised
Viktoria
, I know that, I'm well aware that I promised you I would stay, but that was because I thought no one would want a pair of misfit kids like us. I did NOT kidnap you, you came willingly,
because
ALL humans come when a vampire asks them, humans are naturally stupid like that. I HAVE tortured you, it's what I was taught to do,
it
is what I am. I'm a torturer, a hellion. And I have watched as you reached your breaking point, but I've realized,
Viktoria
, that I can't do that anymore! I can't!"

"Why?" She hissed, moving closer as if the two of them were wrapped in a rubber band stretched taught by their space, slowly pulling them together as the rubber relaxed.

"Because I- I LOVE you,
Viktoria
! I'm in love with you. I always have been and always will be. I wouldn't- couldn't sell you to some vampire because your MINE...you are MY
Viktoria
, my lover, my human, my servant, my Queen of Darkness." Vince said, closing the gap between them, movi
ng so his lips were at her ear.

"I'll give you a choice, darling. You could die here now, or you can belong to me,
Viktoria
. You choose." Vince said in her ear, sending chills up her spine.

"I'd rather be damned." Tori spat back- and she was...by their wicked love. She knew right as Vince kissed her that she would forever be his...that they were meant to be together. It was in the way their bodies melted together, the way his lips led and she followed. How he moved and she responded, how he hated and she loved, the way he bit and drank her blood, sending in the last doses of his life juice as he sliced his skin for the last time and bled into her....

"I'm yours, Vincent
DeChorello
." She said so quietly that it was nearly the sound of the air stirring around them, but he heard, he always did.

Chapter 14

The Guardian's Gathering was tomorrow night, starting at dusk and ending at dawn.
Viktoria
was highly aware that her body was changing, that she was gradually changing from human to
vampire, that
she was going to be Vince's forever.

Tori groaned quietly, collapsing on Vince's bed while he sat at his writing desk scrawling on an envelope that needed to be sent to his distant cousin Splice.

Vince glanced over his shoulder quickly at Tori, worry in his blackish red eyes. He hadn't fed at all
today,
it was a custom of the vampires. They never fed for a whole twenty-four hours before the Guardian's Gathering.

"What's wrong, darling?" He asked softly, eying Tori warily.

"Just...aches...again." She gasped out through gritted teeth, bringing her knees to her chest and lying on her side, relieving some of the pain the vampire blood was causing in her stomach as it morphed it slowly and agonizingly.
 

Vince nodded and strode over to her picking up a black blanket from his bed and gently easing her into his arms, walking her over to his chair by the window and sitting down. He wrapped the blanket around her, laying her head down on his shoulder, fingers playing in her hair that reflected the orange and violet hues of sunset.

"The change will be done soon,
Viktoria
. The pain will ease with it," he whispered in her ear, brushing away a stray strand of hair on he forehead with his lips.

Viktoria's
hand clutched his left arm's bicep, applying nearly painful pressure as her own agony slid through her body.

Everything between the two had returned to normal in the past week. Vince had told
Viktoria
about Jon's plans and his accomplice- Maria. How that dreadful story was made up of foul lies meant to tear them apart so it would be easier to kill the both of them
.

Viktoria
hadn't liked the news about Maria joining forces with Jon, if Vince hadn't held her back than Maria would've been dead the moment the news was released to her.

"Vince, what are we doing about tomorrow?" Tori wondered, her body going still with fear. Even though she had rarely heard any vampire mention the Guardians of Death, she knew that they were dark, dangerous, evil, and bloodless vampires that would smile down at Death as they killed it themselves.

"I don't know,
Viktoria
." He said softly. "But whatever happens tomorrow, remember one thing: No one is to be trusted."

"Why?"

"Because any vampire will be willing to suck-up to a Guardian if it means getting on their good-side if they even have one," Vince explained, "they'd even kill their best friend if it meant getting more miles to their territory or gaining more blood vessels to drink from."